[size=6]In his third game, teenager Andrew Nabbout goes down in Victory folklore [/size]David Davutovic From: Herald Sun November 12, 2012 12:00AM
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/in-his-third-game-teenager-andrew-nabbout-goes-down-in-victory-folklore/story-e6frfg8x-1226514746444MELBOURNE Victory's scoring hero Andrew Nabbout has become accustomed to rejection since his early teens.
He was
never picked for a state representative side and was
axed by Green Gully, one of Victoria's premier junior clubs.
But the youngster persisted, and a month ago rejection turned to recognition from arguably Australia's best talent spotter.
"A lot of people said, 'Nineteen, you're too old to make it, you've got to be picked as a youngster'," Nabbout said yesterday.
"I never got selected for any of that (state teams). I've never lost belief in myself to become professional.
"Ange (Postecoglou) saw me (in a Victory youth game) and said he'd take me to Brisbane (in Round 2). I didn't know I was starting until the day.
"I got thrown in the deep end against Brisbane Roar and thankfully I found myself swimming. But I just stuck it out. Ange gave me the chance to make it happen and I've been rewarded."
Only 48 hours earlier, the first-year mechanical engineering student had been sitting his final exam at RMIT.
Now Nabbout has gone down in Victory folklore.
The teenage super sub sent the boisterous contingent of travelling fans behind the goals into a frenzy by netting a brace in 13 minutes to turn a two-goal deficit into a 3-2 win against Sydney on Saturday night.
In Sydney, he will be known as the kid who sent Ian Crook packing, with the Blues' coach resigning within 24 hours of the loss.Nabbout's first - nine minutes after coming on - was a delightfully curled left-foot shot, the second a header from Gui Finkler's corner.
"I still can't believe what happened. The last 10 minutes all odds were stacked against us," Nabbout said.
"Last week I came on and didn't have much of an impact and there was a scare we could've lost the game.
"So Ange just told me before the game, 'You're a sub, you have to make an impact no matter how long you play, we don't put subs on for the sake of it'.
"Like Ange said, games aren't played over 70, 80 minutes, you have to play out the full 90 and we did that.
"The chances came and the goals finally